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Ndeye Yacine Dieng drops embers over peanut shells covering fish as she walks amidst the smoke on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. Since her birth on Senegal’s coast, the ocean has always given Ndeye Yacine Dieng life. Her grandfather was a fisherman, and her grandmother and mother processed fish. Like generations of women, she helps support her family in the small community of Bargny by drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by male villagers. They were baptized by fish, these women say. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Plumes of smoke from fish processing rise above Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Ndeye Yacine Dieng, lower left, covers fish with peanut shells to process it on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. Dieng’s grandfather was a fisherman, her grandmother and mother fish processors. They baptized her with money from fish. They taught her the traditions and work of fish processing. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A woman covers fish with peanut shells to process it on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Smoked and processed fish is set in a basket after being cleaned and separated by female workers at a processing site on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Sunday April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A woman working on a fish processing site walks through the thick smoke coming from burning peanut shells used to cure fish on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Women carry buckets filled with processed fish on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Sunday April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A woman works on a fish processing site on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Sunday April 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Ndeye Yacine Dieng talks with her 3-year-old grandson Babacar as she arrives at her home in Bargny, Senegal some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. Since her birth on Senegal’s coast, the ocean has always given Ndeye Yacine Dieng life. Her grandfather was a fisherman, and her grandmother and mother processed fish. Like generations of women, she helps support her family in the small community of Bargny by drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by male villagers. They were baptized by fish, these women say. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Ndeye Yacine Dieng breaks the fast with her family during the holy month of Ramadan at her home in Bargny, Senegal some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. Since her birth on Senegal’s coast, the ocean has always given Ndeye Yacine Dieng life. Her grandfather was a fisherman, and her grandmother and mother processed fish. Like generations of women, she helps support her family in the small community of Bargny by drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by male villagers. They were baptized by fish, these women say. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A man walks past pirogues used as fishing boats as the full moon rises over Bargny, Senegal, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Monday April 26, 2021. The first true fishing season since the pandemic devastated the industry kicked off, bringing renewed hope to the fish processors, their families and the village, even as challenges from coronavirus and more remain. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Fishing boats line the shore of Bargny beach, some 35 kilomters (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 22, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Siny Gueye, center left, is joined by other women fish processors to sing a blessing and thankful song at Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Fatou Samba, right, president of the association of female fish processors, carries on her head a basket filled with the remains of processed fish at Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Samba is a town councilor and president of the Association of Women Processors of Fish Products, and she’s testified about the challenges in artisanal fishing. She hopes to stop much of the expansion of big industry as fishmeal companies scoop up fish and send the product to Europe and Asia. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Fishing boats line the shore of Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 22, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Men wade through the water as they carry the fish cargo from the pirogues to the shore of Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Men wait to load their horse-drawn carts with the catch brought by fishermen at Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 22, 2021. In Bargny and other coastal villages of Senegal, traditional fishing and processing of the catch is a livelihood and a pride. Methods have been passed down through generations. Women work as processors — drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by men. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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A woman gestures as a man unloads his horse-drawn cart of the catch brought by fishermen at Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Thursday April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Ndeye Yacine Dieng, left, spreads the fish on the ground before processing it on Bargny beach, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) east of Dakar, Senegal, Wednesday April 21, 2021. Dieng’s grandfather was a fisherman, her grandmother and mother fish processors. They baptized her with money from fish. They taught her the traditions and work of fish processing. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

By Carley Petesch

BARGNY, Senegal (AP) — Since her birth on Senegal’s coast, the ocean has always given Ndeye Yacine Dieng life. Her grandfather was a fisherman, and her grandmother and mother processed fish. Like generations of women, she helps support her family in the small community of Bargny by drying, smoking, salting and fermenting the catch brought home by male villagers. They were baptized by fish, these women say.

But when the pandemic struck, boats that once took as many as 50 men out to sea carried only a few. Many residents were too terrified to leave home, let alone fish, for fear of catching the virus. When local women managed to get their hands on fish to process, they lacked buyers, as markets shut down and neighboring countries closed borders. Without savings, many families went from three daily meals to one or two.

Dieng is among more than a thousand women in Bargny, and many more in other villages dotting Senegal’s coast, who process fish — the crucial link in a chain that constitutes one of the country’s largest exports and employs hundreds of thousands of its residents.

“It was catastrophic — all of our lives changed,” Dieng said. But, she noted, “Our community is a community of solidarity.”

That spirit sounds throughout Senegal with the motto “Teranga,” a word in the Wolof language for hospitality, community and solidarity. People tell each other: “on est ensemble,” a French phrase meaning “we are in this together.”

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This story is part of a yearlong series on how the pandemic is impacting women in Africa, most acutely in the least developed countries. AP’s series is funded by the European Journalism Centre’s European Development Journalism Grants program, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AP is responsible for all content.

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Last month, the first true fishing season since the pandemic kicked off, bringing renewed hope to processors, their families and the village. The brightly painted vast wooden fishing boats called pirogues once again each carry dozens of men to sea, and people swarm the beach to help fishermen carry in their loads.

But challenges from the coronavirus — and so much more — remain. Rising seas and climate change threaten livelihoods and homes; many can’t afford to build new structures or move inland. A steel processing plant rising near Bargny’s beach raises fears about pollution and will join a cement factory nearby.

“Since there is COVID, we live in fear,” said Dieng, 64, who has seven adult children. “Most of the people here and women processors have lived a difficult life. ... Little by little, it’s getting better.”

Dieng and fellow processors weathered the pandemic by relying on each other. They’re accustomed to being breadwinners — one expert estimated that each working woman in Senegal feeds seven or eight family members. Before the pandemic, a good season could bring Dieng 500,000 FCFA ($1,000). Last year, she said, she made little to nothing.

Dieng’s husband teaches the Quran at the mosque next door to their home, and the couple pooled their money with their children, with one son finding work repairing TVs. Other women got help from family abroad or rented out parts of their refrigerators for storage.

They survived, but they missed their work, which isn’t just a job — it’s their heritage. “Processing is a pride,” Dieng said.

Most fishing in Senegal is small-scale — carried out in traditional, generations-old methods. It’s referred to as artisanal fishing. Once processed, fish is sold to local and international buyers. In Senegal, fish accounts for more than half of protein eaten by its 16 million residents — key for food security.

Listen: Call to Prayer

The call to pray is heard in the streets of Bargny during the sunset, after people break fast during the Ramadan. (AP Audio/Yesica Fisch)

Industrial fishing is carried out in Senegal’s waters as well, via motorized vessels and trawlers. More than two dozen companies also specialize in industrial processing in the country alongside fishmeal factories and canning plants. Fishmeal factories price women like Dieng out by paying more for fish and depleting resources — 5 kilos of fish are needed for 1 kilo of fishmeal, a lower-grade powder-like product used for farm animals and pets.

Senegal’s government also has agreements with other countries allowing them to fish and imposing limits on the hauls. Monitoring what these boats from Europe, China and Russia harvest has proven difficult. Locals say outsiders devastate supply.

Dieng has become a local leader and mentor whose neighbors come to her for advice on everything from money woes to their marriages, and she and others are part of a rising collective voice of women in Senegal working for change along the coast and beyond.

Senegal has designated land near Bargny as an economic zone in its efforts to invest in redevelopment. Dieng’s neighbor Fatou Samba — a town councilor and president of the Association of Women Processors of Fish Products — has testified about challenges in artisanal fishing.

“If we let ourselves be outdone, within two or three years, women will not have work anymore,” Samba said. “We are not against the creation of a project that will develop Senegal. But we are against projects that must make women lose the right to work.”

The pandemic has taught villagers a crucial lesson: Money from fish may not always be there, so it’s important to try to save.

The pandemic also is not over, so Dieng and other women go door to door to raise awareness and urge people to get vaccinated. Senegal imposed strict measures at the start of the pandemic. The government was widely commended, and restrictions largely eased. But the country’s had more than 40,000 cases. Volunteer and government campaigns aim to keep another wave at bay.

At the end of a long day of work, and before she goes home to break fast of Ramadan with her family, Dieng stands in front of her smoking fish and records a video she hopes will to motivate the women working in the industry.

“It’s our gold. This site is all, this site is everything for us,” Dieng said of the coast and its importance to Bargny. “All the women must rise up.”

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Meet the women of Bargny: See the portrait series.

Follow Carley Petesch on Twitter: https://twitter.com/carleypetesch

Follow AP’s multiformat Africa news on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

Hit by COVID, Senegal’s women find renewed hope in fishing

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Listen: Call to Prayer

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